Something about Mary

Mary McEvoy is well known to most as Biddy from Glenroe but since her departure from the famous soap she constantly meets people who don't see the woman behind the character. It bother's her because she sees herself as infinitely more than the role she played as the farmer, Miley's wife, for so many years on our TV screens every Sunday night.

Part of the problem is that Mary is a farmer in real life but a much more 'romantic' type of farmer than Biddy ever was. "Biddy would have no time for keeping donkeys and goo goo gaa gaaing at the dogs", says Mary. "I don't define myself as anything. Sometimes I'm an actor, sometimes I'm a farmer. I'm just a person trying to get from one end of life to the other and try to learn as much about my own existence as I'm going."

And Mary has had it tough. She has lived with depression all her life and is open and honest about it's impact on her. All through Glenroe she suffered from depression but she says she did her best work then because she was 'out of herself'. Getting a diagnosis for depression was a relief because it meant she wasn't the weak person she thought she was and with treatment Mary has learned to live with this shadow that follows her every day.

But it is through practising Buddhism that Mary has found the key to exploring her own existence. It has made a huge difference to her life. It is the safe basis that I start my life with...